ABU SAYYAF FREES THREE IN­DONE­SIAN HOSTAGES

MANILA: Abu Sayyaf rebels freed three more In­done­sian cap­tives yes­ter­day af­ter a three-month or­deal, the Philip­pine gov­ern­ment said, tak­ing the num­ber of hostages re­leased to nine in the past two weeks. They were handed over in Sulu to the Moro Na­tional Lib­er­a­tion Front, a rebel group that has signed a peace deal with the gov­ern­ment. It was not clear whether a ran­som was paid. Dur­ing the past two weeks Abu Sayyaf, who has made vast sums of money from the kid­nap busi­ness, had freed three In­done­sians, two Filipinos and a Nor­we­gian. – Reuters